Legal Commentary

McInnis Loses, Maes and Tancredo to Face Hickenlooper for Gov

By Jeralyn

In a very close race, businessman Dan Maes has beat Scott McInnis for the Colorado Republican Gubernatorial election in November. The Post says Tancredo will run against both Maes and Hickenlooper. Best thing that could happen. Maes and Tancredo will split the Republican vote and likable Mayor Hickenlooper will sail to victory.

There could be a required recount in the Maes-McInnis race.

There still remained a possibility the primary may drag through another week. If two candidates finish within the margin of half a percentage point, it triggers an automatic recount in Colorado. A candidate may also request a recount if the margin is larger, but has to pay for it.

At midnight, with 100% reporting, the votes were Dan Maes (196,560) 50.6
Scott McInnis (191, 209) 49.3

Maes "ran as the underdog, the non-establishment candidate, backed by Tea Party supporters but without much money." He explained his platform tonight:

He said that if he becomes govenor, he plans to "eliminate the influence of unions on state employees, stop subsidizing abortions." He added that he also will reverse Gov. Bill Ritter's increase in vehicle registration fees and will "enroll the state in a program that deports illegal alien criminals."

[More...]

Maes can say goodbye to the Latino vote -- and the vote of just about every other intelligent group in the state. He's got less political experience than Hickenlooper, and the Dems will be lining up to give Hickenlooper money for November. Republicans can blame the implosion of their party on McInnis, and they need to rebuild, but whether they can do that before 2012 is anyone's guess. I give it very long odds.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on August 11, 2010 (boomark / email).